Causes of Addiction:
With the ever-growing homeless population around the United States and especially here in Portland, Oregon, there is a common problem that tie many homeless cases together. This problem is addiction; A Majority of homeless people will suffer from one form of addiction or another over the course of their lifetimes. This may be due to becoming homeless as an escape from their situation or addiction leads to homelessness as addiction takes over their lives. The problem of addiction is quite a tricky one, because it has many negative connotations associated with it. This means that many people with addictions do not tend to seek help because they are led to believe by societal norms that addiction is bad and therefore, they are bad. However, addiction is a result of our genetic code and our lifestyles and therefore is very hard to break free from.
Comparing systems:
Here in the U.S., we don’t
have many places to go that offer addiction treatment that does not cost an arm
and a leg. This is one point of interest where the United States differs from
many other places around the world. Places like Denmark, and other European
countries offer addiction and medical treatments for little to nothing because
they know that people in these addictive situations have a very hard time
pulling themselves out and becoming a productive member of society.
A Correction is Needed:
So, what is the solution, you may ask? Well for starters we should start investing more in public infrastructure that focuses on keeping people healthy for a low monetary value. Here in the U.S., we have become so accustomed to the fact that a trip to the doctor’s office could cost tens of thousands of dollars. But this doesn’t need to be the case because many places all over the world have free access to healthcare for all their citizens. We as a country need to start a movement towards bettering the health of all our citizens through easier access to healthcare and treatments. This in turn will help homeless populations that suffer from addictions and medical ailments to have easier access to help and treatment, because as of right now some are being turned away from hospitals due to the fact that they have no money or the hospitals don’t have the capacity for them.
Sources:
https://www.harvardmagazine.com/2020/04/feature-forum-costliest-health-care
https://americanaddictioncenters.org/rehab-guide/homeless
